Holly Bartlett’s Death: The Unanswered Hours Beneath Halifax’s MacKay Bridge

2026-08-13

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In March 2010, Holly Bartlett, a 31 year old blind public servant and graduate student, left a party in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and took a cab toward her condo. Seven hours later, ironworkers found her critically injured inside a fenced area beneath the MacKay Bridge, less than 1,000 feet from her home. Police concluded Holly became disoriented after leaving the cab, entered the restricted area, climbed a steep concrete abutment, and fell. But the people who knew Holly best struggled to accept that explanation....

Police concluded Holly became disoriented after leaving the cab, entered the restricted area, climbed a steep concrete abutment, and fell. But the people who knew Holly best struggled to accept that explanation. Holly had spent years mastering the orientation and mobility skills that allowed her to live independently. Her cane was later found leaning against a fence after police and a search dog had already searched the area. Her phone and wallet were discovered scattered in her condo parking lot. The cab driver, Paul Fraser, gave changing accounts of what happened after he dropped her off.

A 2014 independent review upheld the accidental death finding, but criticized important parts of the original investigation, including delayed neighborhood canvassing and the brief initial interview with the last person known to see Holly alive. We cover Holly's life, the final night that cannot be fully reconstructed, and the questions her family still carries.

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